Obama Condemns Egypt Violence

President Barack Obama addressed the deteriorating situation in Egypt, condemning the military crackdown there and saying the U.S. will cancel its joint military exercise.

President Barack Obama condemned the deadly violence in Egypt and said the U.S. is canceling plans to hold joint military exercises with the country next month. Watch the full statement.

By

Carol E. Lee,

Adam Entous and

Jared A. Favole

Updated Aug. 15, 2013 11:53 a.m. ET

EDGARTOWN, Mass.—President
Barack Obama
condemned the deadly violence in Egypt and said the U.S. is canceling plans to hold joint military exercises with the country next month.

Mr. Obama paused from his vacation here Thursday to sharply criticize the country's bloody crackdown on protesters, which has left at least 525 people dead and 3,717 injured. The comments were his first on the crisis since it unfolded this week.

The president also called on the interim government to lift a state of emergency, but he stopped short of saying the U.S. will freeze the roughly $1.3 billion in military aid it provides Egypt. Rather, he said he's instructed his national security team to "assess the implications of the actions taken by the interim government," suggesting his administration may take potential further punitive steps.

"The United States strongly condemns the steps that have been taken by Egypt's interim government and security forces," Mr. Obama said in a statement from his vacation compound on Martha's Vineyard. "But while we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back."

The shift in U.S. policy marks an attempt by the U.S. to use what little leverage it has to try to quell the violence in Egypt. Administration officials have been shocked at the level of bloodshed, even though they anticipated the crackdown after a series of discussions in recent weeks between American and Egyptian officials reached an impasse.

Washington Wire

President Barack Obama addressed the deteriorating situation in Egypt, condemning the military crackdown and saying the U.S. will cancel its joint military exercise because of the rising violence. Adam Entous joins Lunch break with more. Photo: Getty Images.

Last month, the Pentagon stopped a shipment of F-16s to Egypt but said the military exercise would go ahead as planned in about a month. A decision had to be made quickly on whether to go forward with the exercise because troops and equipment needed to be moved into place.

While he called on the Egyptian military to use restraint, Mr. Obama also urged protesters to act peacefully.

"The Egyptian people deserve better than what we've seen over the last few days," Mr. Obama said, as he acknowledged "the complexity of the situation."

The president's statement underscores a more sharply defined U.S. position on Egypt. The White House has been mostly supportive of the Egyptian military and the interim government since the country's generals overthrew the democratically elected President
Mohammed Morsi
on July 3.

Mr. Morsi, who has been held in detention since his removal from office, is a senior leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. The White House has refused to call the overthrow of Mr. Morsi a coup d'état, a move that would require the U.S. to halt military aid. Mr. Obama said the violence marks "a more dangerous path" than the one taken under Mr. Morsi.

The latest wave of violence has put pressure on the Obama administration to reconsider the roughly $1.5 billion in annual aid the U.S. provides to Egypt. The vast majority of U.S. aid goes to support the military.

Administration officials have said this week they are reviewing the aid, and Mr. Obama has been pushed by U.S. lawmakers to take a more forceful stance on the issue.

The president, speaking from the driveway of the Martha's Vineyard home where he is vacationing, cast the U.S. as not taking sides, saying: "America will work with all those in Egypt" and insisting "all parties need to have a voice in Egypt's future."

He also tried to distance the U.S. from the unrest in Egypt and blunt any anti-American sentiment, even as he sought to shape the outcome.

"America cannot determine the future of Egypt. That's a task for the Egyptian people. We don't take sides with any particular party or political figure. I know it's tempting inside of Egypt to blame the United States or the West or some other outside actor for what's gone wrong," Mr. Obama said. "That kind of approach will do nothing to help Egyptians achieve the future that they deserve."

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